Didrik Ferdinand Didrichsen (3 July 1814 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

– 19 March 1887 in

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the region of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less tha ...

) was a Danish

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

. He participated as botanist in the first Galathea Expedition (1845—1847). In 1851, he began work as a librarian at the botanical gardens in Copenhagen. From 1856 to 1875 he was an associate professor of botany. In 1875, Didrichsen succeeded

Anders Sandøe Ørsted Anders Sandøe Ørsted (21 December 1778 – 1 May 1860) was a Danish lawyer, politician and jurist. He served as the Prime Minister of Denmark in 1853–1854. Biography He studied philosophy and law at the University of Copenhagen and was ...

as professor of botany at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

and director of the

botanic garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

, whereby the already then much better known

Eugen Warming Johannes Eugenius Bülow Warming (3 November 1841 – 2 April 1924), known as Eugen Warming, was a Danish botanist and a main founding figure of the scientific discipline of ecology. Warming wrote the first textbook (1895) on plant ecology, tau ...

was passed over. After Didrichsen's retirement in 1885, Warming succeeded him in both positions. As a

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the science, scientific study of naming, defining (Circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxon, taxa (si ...

, he described the botanical genera ''

Mostuea ''Mostuea'' is one of only three genera of flowering plants belonging to the small family Gelsemiaceae (the other two being '' Gelsemium'' and ''Pteleocarpa''). ''Mostuea'' and ''Gelsemium'' were formerly placed in the family Loganiaceae, while ...

'', '' Myriogomphus'', '' Pogonophyllum'' and '' Stenonia'', as well as numerous plant species. Many of these findings were published in the ''Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra den Naturhistoriske Forening i Kjøbenhavn''. Taxa with the specific epithet of ''didrichsenii'' are named in his honor.

Publications

* ''Plantas nonnullas musei Universitatis Hauniensis descripsit'', 1854. * ''For hundrede Aar siden : smaa Samlinger til et Tidsrum af den danske Botaniks Historie : særskilt Aftryk af "Naturhistorisk Tidsskrift", 3. R. 6. B.'', 1869.WorldCat Search
publications)

References

1814 births 1887 deaths 19th-century Danish botanists Botanists active in South Asia University of Copenhagen alumni Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen {{Denmark-botanist-stub